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Cinema Shake-Up Goes On As Odeon Boss Exits

(Sky News (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
Sky News understands that Rupert Gavin, who has run the privately-owned group for eight years, is to leave a year after its owner abandoned its latest attempt to sell the company.

Mr Gavin will be replaced by Paul Donovan, a former executive at Vodafone and Eircom, the Irish telecoms group.

The management change marks the latest significant move at the top of the cinema sector.

Steve Wiener, the chief executive of Cineworld, is leaving at the same time that the company embarks on a merger with Cinema City International, a Polish-based competitor.

Vue Entertainment, one of the other big players in the UK industry, was sold last year to a Canadian pension fund, while the much smaller Everyman chain floated on the London stock market.